1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to suspended ceilings that hang from structural ceilings, and more particularly, to connectors for the metal beams that form the grids in such suspended ceilings.
2. Prior Art
The beams in the grids of suspended ceilings are formed from a flat, continuous strip of sheet metal that passes through successive rolls. The rolls bend the strip into a cross section having a bulb at the top, a web depending downward from the bulb, and horizontal flanges, at the bottom, on opposite sides, of the web.
The beams are formed into a grid that can support panels in rectangular grid openings, or drywall sheets attached to the grid from below by self-tapping screws.
The beams in the grid are attached on each side of the grid to a molding on a side wall, generally by screws, but sometimes by a connector in the form of a saddle that is secured to the molding and beams by self-tapping screws. Such a saddle connector has an inverted channel that straddles the bulb of a beam, and is set in place from above the beam.
Such a saddle-type channel connector having on each side of the channel teeth that dig into the structural elements they straddle, have been used on wooden beams. On metal beams, the teeth of the connector generally bend and fail to penetrate the metal of the beam when force is applied, as by hand pliers, when the connector is being applied to the beam. Hence, such connectors have not been accepted in the suspended ceiling field where metal beams are used in the grids.